{"id":6538,"date":"2017-05-10T12:14:31","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T18:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=6538"},"modified":"2017-05-10T12:14:31","modified_gmt":"2017-05-10T18:14:31","slug":"whats-purpose-aquarium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2017\/05\/whats-purpose-aquarium.html","title":{"rendered":"What’s the purpose of an aquarium?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AJohn_G_Shedd_Aquarium_Chicago_040724.jpeg;<\/p>\n

Is it to educate and inform, that is, is there a public service mission, in which visitors are better for the experience? \u00a0That\u2019s the rationale for public\u00a0subsidies for and donations to museums, in general, that it\u2019s an enriching experience to visit an art museum or a natural history museum, or the like. \u00a0Zoos, too, full of entertainment as they are, are meant to be educational as well (and it seems to me that they go a bit too far on this point right now, with endless displays about saving endangered animals and, increasingly, the terrible effects Global Warming will have on your favorite animal).<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there are plenty of tourist attractions which make no bones about the fact that they\u2019re just for fun. \u00a0Skyscraper observatories come to mind immediately, as well as private \u201cmuseums\u201d like the Ripley\u2019s Believe It or Not or the Wax museums that are increasingly popular, or a place like the London Dungeon<\/a>\u00a0(with locations in San Francisco, Berlin, Amsterdam, etc.).<\/p>\n

So what about the Shedd Aquarium, which was featured in the Tribune this morning<\/a>\u00a0because it plans to raise and restructure its prices? \u00a0Where it had previously featured a range of options, including a \u201cbargain\u201d admission of $8 to see only the older parts of the building, it will now have a fixed fee of $39.95 per adult for admission which will include dolphin shows but exclude movies, which are $5 extra each \u2014 the rationale being that one fixed price moves people through the admission line a lot faster, and, per the image above, this is a legitimate concern. \u00a0The article doesn\u2019t report on the new children\u2019s pricing, but the rates comparable to the new flat rate would suggest that children\u2019ll be $30.95. \u00a0And the weekly free days were replaced long ago with 52 free days which now exclude weekends or school vacation days, but are always Mondays and Tuesdays during the school year.<\/p>\n

At the same time, city residents will pay dramatically less \u2014 $19.95. \u00a0There had always been a resident discount, but the differential will be increased dramatically. \u00a0In addition:<\/p>\n

The aquarium currently is free to police officers, firefighters, teachers, active military personnel and school groups. Like many local museums, the Shedd will add free admission for families with a \u201cgovernment funded provision card\u201d under the Museums for All program.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So is $39.95 a \u201cfair\u201d price for a day at the aquarium? \u00a0To a certain extent, pricing is just \u201cwhat the market will bear\u201d and they certainly seem to have plenty of ticket-buyers even at these rates. \u00a0And there have been a couple years when the Actuary family has gotten a discount offer in the mail and ponied up for a membership (which worked out to be basically the cost of a single visit for our family), though we haven\u2019t gotten any offers recently and that may mean that they\u2019re doing just fine. \u00a0In fact, I rather had the impression that there were a substantial number of members for exactly this reason.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, if the aquarium is simply a fun activity and a nice way to spend the day, then, well, it costs what it costs. \u00a0If the total expenses add up to be too much for your family, when you tally up the admission plus parking and overpriced museum-cafeteria lunch, well, so be it \u2014 find something else to do for the day instead. \u00a0On the other hand, if there is a real mission of education, then there is a true failure to meet this mission, if they\u2019re charging $40 a head.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AJohn_G_Shedd_Aquarium_Chicago_040724.jpeg; By Sebastian Rueckoldt (image taken by Sebastian Rueckoldt) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is it to educate and inform, that is, is there a public service mission, in which visitors are better for the experience? \u00a0That\u2019s the rationale for public\u00a0subsidies for and donations to museums, in general, that it\u2019s an enriching experience to visit an art museum or a natural history museum, or the like. \u00a0Zoos, too, full […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":6539,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33,624,625],"class_list":["post-6538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chicago","tag-shedd-aquarium","tag-tourism"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat's the purpose of an aquarium?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is it to educate and inform, that is, is there a public service mission, in which visitors are better for the experience? \u00a0That's the rationale for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2017\/05\/whats-purpose-aquarium.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What's the purpose of an aquarium?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is it to educate and inform, that is, is there a public service mission, in which visitors are better for the experience? 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